RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ: THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

April 30, 2012

In Gəʿəz, pronominal suffixes
on transitive verbs typically denote adirect object, i.e. a noun in the accusative case. To review the direct object, have another look at the entry on the accusative
case. [If have difficulty viewing the Gəʿəz script on your browser, you may view this blog entry by clicking here.]

Oftentimes, as in
Aramaic / Syriac, these suffixes will anticipate an object which appears later in the sentence, prefixed with the la- preposition. Lambdin
terms this the “qatalo la-nəguš construction.” This type of anticipatory-suffix
infuses the object with greater specificity and definiteness. Note
that, in this construction, the object affixed with
the la-
is not marked in the accusative case.

ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ።àሐነጾ፡ንጉሥ፡ለሀገር።

ḥanaṣa nəguš hagara // à hanaṣo nəguš lahagar//

The king built a city. à The king built [it,] the city.

ተርጐሙ፡ዛተ፡መጻሕፍተ።àተርጐምዋ፡ለዛቲ፡መጻሕፍት።

targʷamu zāta maṣāhəfta // à targʷaməwwā lazāti
maṣāḥəft //

They translated these books. à They translated [them,] these books.

The pronominal suffixes are, for the most part, fairly easy to spot and decipher.
Here’s a general overview of how they appear

singular

plural

3rd masc.

-o

-ኦ

-omu

-ኦሙ

3rd fem.

-ā

-ኣ

-on

-ኦን

2nd masc.

-ka

-ከ

-kəmu

-ክሙ

2nd fem.

-ki

-ኪ

-kən

-ክን

1st com.

-ni

-ኒ

-na

-ነ

Some predictable
phonetic changes occur to accommodate the 3rd person suffixes.
Importantly, a helping “-h-” appears if they are affixed to stems ending in –ā.
If they are affixed to stems ending in –u or -ə, they appear beginning with -əww
and -əyy, respectively, so:

April 27, 2012

The majority of
adjectives in Gəʿəz, as in other Semitic languages, are verbal participles. A
smaller number are denominal. They appear in a few different patterns and I’ve
explained these patterns further below. Adjectives always reflect the number,
gender and case of the nouns they modify and all the patterns follow, more or
less, the following scheme:

M

F

Sng.

- / -

-ት‎/ -t

Pl.

-ኣን/-ān

-ኣት/-
āt

[If have difficulty viewing the Gəʿəz script on your browser, you may view this blog entry by clicking here.]

As in other Semitic languages, adjectives usually
adjectives appear after the noun(s) they modify, so:

Your prophet is righteous. You all are notrighteous. You all are evil of heart and poor of spirit.

ADJECTIVAL PATTERNS

1. The most frequently
appearing adjectival patternis characterized by
an /-u/ on the second radical, so: ቅቱል (qətul) from B-verbs; ቅቱል (qəttul) from
D-verbsandቁቱል (qutul) from L verbs. Note that the –u is absent in the feminine
singular inflection:

መሀረmahara = to teach :

ምሁር məhur= educated / learned

M

F

Sng.

ምሁር

ምህርት

məhur

məhərt

Pl.

ምሁራን

ምሁራት

məhurān

məhurāt

ነጸሐnaṣaḥa = to be pure :

ንጹሕnəṣuḥ =pure / innocent / sincere

M

F

Sng.

ንጹሕ

ንጽሕት

nəṣuḥ

nəṣəḥt

Pl.

ንጹሓን

ንጹሓት

nəṣuḥān

nəṣuḥāt

ሰበሐ sabbaḥ = to praise:

ስቡሕsəbbuḥ = honorable / glorious / praised

M

F

Sng.

ስቡሕ

ስብሕት

səbbuḥ

səbbəḥt

Pl.

ስቡሓን

ስቡሓት

səbbuḥān

sebbuḥāt

Slight phonetic change accommodates roots that end with a -የor a -ወ, so:

ሠነየšannaya = to be beautiful :

ሥኑይšannuy = adorned / decorated

M

F

Sng.

ሥኑይ

ሥኒት

šannuy

šannit

ለበወ labbawa = to understand:

ልብው ləbbəw = wise / prudent

M

F

Sng.

ልብው

ልቡት

ləbbəw

ləbbut

2. Another adjectival pattern is characterized by an /-ā/ on the first radical,
so: ቃትል (qātəl). The ordinal numbers appear in this pattern (ኃምስxāməs = fifth), which inflects quite
simply:

ረትዐratʿa =to be righteous :

ራትዕrātəʿ = righteous / just

M

F

Sng.

ራትዕ

ራትዕት

rātəʿ

rātəʿt

Pl.

ራትዓን

ራትዓት

rātəʿān

rātəʿāt

ብዕለbəʿla = to be / become wealthy
:

ባዕልbāʿəl = rich / wealthy

M

F

Sng.

ባዕል

ባዕልት

bāʿəl

bāʿəlt

Pl.

ባዕላን

ባዕላት

bāʿəlān

bāʿəlāt

3. The third
adjectival pattern includes few, albeit important, adjectives and is
characterized by a /-i/ on the second radical, so: ቀቲል (qatil)
from B-verbs and ቀቲል (qattil) for D-verbs. Note
that the feminine form does not contain a /-t/ and that there is a common
plural form:

ሐደሰ ḥaddasa = to restore :

ሐዲስḥadis = new

M

F

Sng.

ሐዲስ

ሐዳስ

ḥadis

ḥadās

Pl.

ሐደስት

ḥadast

ዐብየʿabya= to enlarge :

ዐቢይʿabiy = large

M

F

Sng.

ዐቢይ

ዐባይ

ʿabiy

ʿabāy

Pl.

ዐበይት

ʿabayt

4. The fourth adjectival
pattern contains a characteristic doubling and elongation of the second radical,
so: ቀታል (qattāl).
Note that this form resembles the f. sing. form in the previous pattern.

ኄረወxerawa = to be good :

ኄርxer= good

M

F

Sng.

ኄር

ኄርት

xer

xert

Pl.

ኄራን

ኄራት

xerān

xerāt

ሠነየšannaya = to be beautiful :

ሠናይ šannāy = beautiful

M

F

sng.

ሠናይ

ሠናይት

šannāy

šannāyt

pl.

ሠናያን

ሠናያት

šannāyān

šannāyāt

5. Gəʿəz also derives adjectives from nouns. Whereas a few denominal adjectives
have idiosyncratic patterns, e.g. ዐብድ ʿabd = ignorant, from ዐብድ ʿabd = a fool, most denominal
adjectives are formed with the suffix –āwi or –āy.

The Learner // ተመሃሪ // Tamahāri

I came across the rich Classical Ethiopic corpus in the course of my doctoral research and was immediately taken with Ge'ez language. There are very few resources on the language and this blog is a step to remedy that by providing an easier entry-point for other Ge'ez-aficionados! I hope you find it helpful in your work and I invite your corrections and suggestions for improvement.